Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter MosleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
In this collection of stories, Mosley introduces the readers to Socrates Fortlow. He’s an ex-con now living in LA. The stories fit together and are told in sequence, more like chapters in a novel than stand-alone stories – but also not quite a novel.
Socrates is not out there seeking redemption for his past so much; he is trying to live by a code and be a better person than he had been. This is not to say that he does not feel guilty: he acknowledges his crimes, knows he was wrong, but he’s not trying to undo the past or make up for this crime. In the stories, he helps out people in the neighborhood: not from a place of seeking redemption for his past wrongs, but to do right by the present. The stories depict his struggles with the difficulties of being poor, black, and an ex-con in LA. The stories are compelling; some are smaller, day in the life kind of stories; others hit hard: both emotionally and intellectually. The themes range from basic human respect and dignity to racial injustice to religion and dying.
As a collection of short stories and not Mosley’s more typical mystery-detective fair, there is something smaller and more intimate about the book. But at the same time, it dives deep into tough questions. If you enjoy Mosley’s writing, you should read this.
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